STORY OF THE DAY: Two Consuma Climbs Conflated in One Heading

The surviving record does not support the date, model and result combined in this title. At the Coppa della Consuma on 12 October 1930, number 42 Tazio Nuvolari drove an Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport and finished second to Clemente Biondetti’s Bugatti. Nuvolari’s victory with an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 came at the following edition, held on 4 October 1931. Treating the supplied entry as a single 1930 victory would therefore invent a result that conflicts with the established chronology.

The 1930 climb, dedicated to Gastone Brilli-Peri following his fatal accident at Tripoli, ran from Pontassieve toward the Passo della Consuma and gained more than 1,000 metres in elevation. Biondetti prevailed at an average exceeding 85 km/h, while Nuvolari took second in the 1750. A year later Nuvolari returned in the new 8C 2300, won outright and raised the event’s record average to approximately 91 km/h—the performance evidently represented by the model and finishing position in the title.

Vittorio Jano’s 8C 2300 was introduced in 1931, making its attribution to an October 1930 event technically impossible. Its supercharged 2,336 cc straight-eight employed twin overhead camshafts and was constructed as two four-cylinder blocks with the central gear train driving the camshafts, supercharger and ancillaries. The design combined a strong competition engine with a comparatively light chassis, and its acceleration and climbing power made it particularly effective on the Consuma road.

Tazio Nuvolari was an Italian from Castel d’Ario whose early fame came on motorcycles before he became one of the outstanding all-purpose racing drivers of his generation. He won the 1930 Mille Miglia in an Alfa Romeo and became central to Scuderia Ferrari’s early competition history. His two consecutive Consuma appearances illustrate rapid technical change: runner-up with the established 1750 in 1930, then winner with Alfa Romeo’s new eight-cylinder car in 1931.